===========
Hacksaw’s Monday BONUS Podcast
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Look-Listen-Share-Subscriber

===========

“AZTECS BOUNCEBACK
===========

It was a brutal beatdown at Boise State.
1-game-1 loss…yes but maybe a different message
Maybe SDSU is not equal to Boise, and not ready to play in the Pac 12
Time to move onto next game-Friday vs New Mexico on a short work week leading into Friday’s game.

Coach Sean Lewis put on a passion play performance at his Monday press briefing.  A bad beating on the road, another week, another game, and another chance to grow.

His offense has been spotty.  For the first time his defense was overwhelmed.  But his spirit remains non-stop.

An interesting sales pitch from a team that is (3-5) and has yet to beat a good team on the schedule
—————-

Sean Lewis Comments:

Growth-learning curve can be messy
Took ass kicking..but learned alot from that
Continue to fight and finish the season the right way
Flip page and move forward

This is not a rebuild-it is a process
Lockeroom knows this is a process too
We are building something special
This is not a throw away season

Want to create bowl opportunity and keep this team together
Champion our process to these players
Learn lessons from Friday night

Believe we have right kind of guys in this program
Character and leadership in our club is undeniable
Continue to inject new life-talent going forward
Have guys we can win with

Number hits Danny O’Neill  has taken are not equal to what happened to Shedeur Sanders-Colorado
No comparsion at all-not a true assessment
Injuries in offensive online have impacted O’Neill
It is a fact of life-when you are a QB-you get hit
This is a natural course of the game
We have the right guys to protect him
Everyone is a part of cohesive unit-need to all function

Majority of O’Neill hits were early in the game
Keep him in the game- shows our guys willing to fight
O’Neill finish strong important for him and the team

New Mexico offense is explosive
Devin Dampier has long runs-change directions-so quick
They generate alot of big plays
Our presnap cycle against him important
Dampier has home run ability as QB
Do great job keeping cage around him
Very dynamic QB..hurt teams alot of ways
He likes to run first and throw second

This could be a shootout type game

No concern about turf situation at Snapdragon
Get it up to par for Aztecs
Meet with SDSU officials about the grass
Plan laid in front of me about irrigation, seeding, sod

So we control what we can….we cannot control it-the surface
Use different cleats but this is player’s choice

Bowl expectation is important-we are aware of it
Worry about Friday game with Lobos

We are obsessed about game plans
Be upset about where we are now
How close we have been-use it as a momentum
Setbacks are part of learning-growing-competing
Lean into these moments-good-bad-ugly
Understand the lessons from it

Boise out come..you know these things happen
Respond better
We were not blindsided
Things happen to 18-23 year men
Been in this along time…I’ve seen all this

Defense played so valiantly-against schedule
Fatigue setting in..not at all..in great shape
Collectively these guys want to play better going out
Need to get off the field on 3rd downs
Need to convert our own 3rd downs

Bronco Mendenhall-New Mexico knows how to prepare teams on short weeks
1100 yards in New Mexico-Wyoming
Watched alot of football video with my son
Pretty excited to watch football
I watched every snap….I love watching football video all the time
I can be a fan watching video..watch ball..I am a coach
Tough to turn off my brain when it comes to watching video

Teach my players…do and train like a pro right now
Molding men right now is what I do
I cannot turn it off..we are fanatical about this
Got to be a bit crazy to make this work at elite level
Always searching for next piece of information-who I am

Jim Harbaugh and I think along the same lines.

 

=======

Hacksaw is Back
Monday Bonus Podcast-1pm
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
=======
“DODGERS BLUE–COLOR OF THE DAY”
========

The best team in baseball money could buy.
That’s a cop out about the World Series Champion Dodgers.
How about saying they earned what they were being paid?

The Fall Classic was a classic between MLB’s two flagship franchises.
The Yankees and Dodgers were meeting for the 12th time in the World Series.
New York had won 8-rings, the Dodgers 3-dating back to their Brooklyn days.

The Dodgers are calling this decade of excellence, their ‘Golden Era’..two World Series rings, 3-other Series appearances and a total of 10-NL-West division titles.

This was more than a one-off Dodgers win over the Yankees.  This was a season long drive to the crown, ‘Team Adversity’ getting the win in the House that Ruth Built.  It was storyline after storyline all summer long of a Dodgers franchise overcoming every bad thing that could happen to a team.

And this series carried the day in the USA and in Japan.  More than 20.1M-viewers watched the 9th inning of the Game 5-Dodgers victory here in the US.  In Japan, TV viewership set a record with an average 20M viewers for the entire series..

It was a vindication too for Manager Dave Roberts, getting his 2nd ring to add to all the NL-West titles after the perceived gaffes handling the pitching staffs in prior playoff yearsl

It was a stamp of approval for the Dodgers analytics guys, who put together Bullpen Days, that led to 3-important victories in the haul to get to the Podium after game 5-in Yankees Stadium.

They checked off all the boxes, winning the pennant race and overcoming obstacles that were staggering.

Shohei Ohtani’s 54-home run season started with him being swindled out of 17M by his personal aid.  And yet he focused on MVP like accomplishments.  The Dodgers won the ring even with him going (2-20) in the series, and playing thru the sprained shoulder in the New York series..

Freddie Freeman, the MVP, not only overcame a significant ankle sprain to hit 4-homers in 4-games, he lived thru the nitemare of the near death of his 3-year old son in the midst of the pennant race.

Mookie Betts won his 3rd World Series ring and came back from major injuries and 2-position shifts to excel.

Teoscar Hernandez had a 33-home run season on a 1-year rental contract.

Where would they have been had it not been for the home run heroics of utilityman Keki Hernandez?

And what about the trade deadline deals with clutch multi position player Tommy Edman’s big hit,  and relief ace Michael Kopech saving them out of the bullpen down the stretch.

Max Muncy overcame a horrid start at bat and in the field and recovered from a complex oblique injury.

Will Smith hit timely HRs in the midst of a roller coaster season with his batting average.

Name a pitcher and he was likely on the disabled list.  In fact they went thru 38-pitchers in all during the regular season to get to the post season.

Jack Flaherty was the only starting rotation member to stay off the disabled list.

Yosh Yamamoto missed 3-months with shoulder woes, came back, and grinded thru quality starts that got them October wins.

And then there was Walker Buehler, who was (1-6) with a hideous ERA in season, who told Manager Dave Roberts, ‘get the F— off my mound, in one playoff game as he finished strong.  How strong?  He threw 13-straight shutout innings in the rotation then in the bullpen in closing it out against the Yankees.

Clayton Kershaw is facing surgery this week on his toe and knee.  He never made it to the post season roster.  Veteran Tony Gonsolin never made it back to the roster either.

The team endured 8-surgeries to their pitching staff, including top young arms Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Dustin May and others.

The bullpen brigade survived a month of ERA’s at 6.28-to grab the stretch run by the throat coming out of the pen, choking off rally after rally.  The manager trusted the troops led by Kopech-Evan Phillips-Blake Trienen and others, at the most important time of the year.

The Dodgers were relentless in the face of adversity.

Think back, down 2-games to 1-to the Padres and having to go with a bullpen day in the divisional play.  What looked like a fatal move, led to 8-brilliant innings by 8-relievers that led to the death of the San Diego playoff hopes.

They would not cave when Pete Alonso kept hitting homers in the Mets series,before  taking them out.

And when the Yankees threatened to climb back in the World Series, LA roared back from that 5-0 deficit, scoring 7-runs and winning, in New York.

Yes the Yankees made 3-fatal mistakes on defense that will haunt them all winter long, but the Dodgers kept hitting, whether it was spray hits or  long distance home runs to take the lead, come from behind and then win games.

It might have been ‘improbable’ the Dodgers could do all this.  At times it looked like it was ‘impossible’.  But they piled victory on top of victory and the trophy is theirs.

There was leadership from atop.  They parked their ego at the door to the clubhouse.  It was pure emotion in the dugout and the batter’s box.  It wads ‘fire in their eyes’ pitching.  And they won and won and won.

The best team money could buy, sure.  But the players had to do it when it counted, nothing given to them, but something they earned.

As you flash back to October, the Padres choked it away by not scoring for 24-innings in a row.  The Phillies were ousted in their first series.  Atlanta collapsed under their mset of injuries.  Baltimre-Cleveland came up short of talent in the AL playoffs.

And then there were the Yankees.  Aaron Judge’s failures at bat and his misplay of a line drive that opened the flood gates.  Aside from Juan Soto, the Yankees hit a miserable (.206).  They didn’t win either of pitching ace Gerritt Cole’s two starts in the series.  But it was not just the failures of the Yankees stars.  It was who did it to them.

It was the Dodgers relentless at bats; the ability to string together big innings; the long distance home runs; and the dominant Bullpen Days that bulldozed thru the NY batting orders.

Quite a World Series.  Quite a comeback from the worst case scenario in every corner of the clubhouse and dugout, in season and then again in postseason.

Call them World Series champions.  Color the month of October-Dodger Blue.  They earned their accolades.

=======================

 

=========

Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus PODCAST…1pm
Celebrating World Series..Greatest BASEBALL Movies All Time
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
==========
“LOTS OF GAMES-LOT OF OPINIONS”

All things World Series…All things Football.
What I saw-What I think

WORLD SERIES…As Yogi Berra would say, ‘it ain’t over till it’s over”.  Yes, but the Dodgers 2-0 lead over New York heading into Monday night’s third game of the Fall Classic is a bit closer to being over.  Aaron Judge is not hitting.  Shohei Ohtani is banged up.  Both bullpens look like they are operating on fumes.  But who would you want to have the ball in game three-Walker Buehler or Clark Schmidt.

DODGERS..They hope to breathe easier after the fluke shoulder dislocation, that popped right back in for Ohtani.  The scans showed no tear, no damage.  He does not have to throw. the ball.  Just swing the bat and the force of that swing is on the left shoulder that he tweaked.  Maybe he becomes a line drive hitter, not a home run threat, each time he comes to the plate.  Oh the second guessers, why steal a base late in a game with a 4-1 lead and put yourself in jeopardy of getting hurt?

YANKEES..Aaron Judge is having a really tough time, hitting (.150) in the playoffs, with 19-strikeouts in 50-at bats in the and is (1-9) vs the Dodgers.  Pressing?  Chasing?  Been Figured out?  Probably some of all three.

PADRES..AJ Preller’s season ending media briefing was all about the future, next year, the roster, the decisions to be made and the payroll.  Little said about the 24-scoreless innings in a row that took them out of the playoff series.  Nothing said about the substandard hitting of all their stars.  Yes it was only two games, and if it happened in July, you would not think much  of anything.  But it happened in October to all the highest paid players on the franchise.  A complete team, ready for the ‘Fall Classic’ derailed by alot of bad at bats.  Somebody at Petco Park should be haunted by what happened.

CHARGERS..Can you imagine where this franchise would be without the magic of QB-Justin Herbert.  Can’t run the ball.  Protection very shaky.  A still incomplete pass catching group.  But a QB that finds a way to make lots of plays down the field, in the pocket with his arm, and chunk yards with his legs.  Marvelous player.  Lucky to have him.

RAMS..Ridiculous conversation about the Cooper Kupp trade rumors.  Why would you ever consider this, when you still have plenty of time to make a playoff run behind the heart and soul QB-Matt Stafford, and the fact you are getting alot of injured guys back healthy.  And Ladd McConkey projects to be a star slot WR.

RAIDERS…At (2-6) they look to be bottoming out.  The road back will be long.  Need a QB.  Need a big time WR.  Need a RB.  Need OL help.  GM-Tom Telesco has alot of work ahead of him.  And you wo\nder if he really has the right coach?  Can anyone say Bill Belichick?

COWBOYS..Waiting for an implosion from within if the losing continues, or maybe waiting for an explosion if they can get this injured defense healthy to compliment do all QB-Dak Prescott.  Not a good situation no matter how Jerry Jones tries to paint the picture.

CHIEFS…Most unimpressive unbeaten team in the league by virtue of all the injuries, but GM-Brett Veech has a history of renting veterans for Coach Andy Reid to coach up.  Thus you can expect quality work from WR-DeAndre Hopkins to compliment RB-Kareem Hunt who has helpled alot.

49ers…Not much magic in Santa Clara these days with all these injuries and Brock Purdy cannot make all the plays everyday.  Anyone see a sighting of ‘Christian McCaffrey on the horizon?

WASHINGTON..Sure does not play like a rookie, QB-Jayden Daniels.  Does not turn it over-does not panic-does not take big hits.  Sunday, a huge Hail Mary pass that went 68-yards in the air to an accurate landing in a receiver’s arms in the end zone   Yeah you thought the Commanders would be 6-2 at midseason, right?

BENGALS..Feel so bad for QB-Joe Burrow.  Not much roster help, at RB-OL or on DL..thus a (2-6) season is over record

CLEVELAND..Believe it if you dare, but yes that was some (334Y) throwing day from QB-Jameis Winston, with 3TDs added on.  Just remember next weekend he could throw 3-interceptions too, which is the reason he has moved around so much.

CAROLINA..Awful, just awful, this anemic Panthers offense.  Bryce Young had to play and was erratic again.  Looks like a lost soul with a franchise that has had lots of lost seasons.

PATRIOTS..Bunch of howling still about New England, even if now they upset the Jets on Sunday while losing QB-Drake Maye to a concussion.  Long season though in store.

JETS..Something really missing with the (2-6) Jets.  Aaron Rodgers has firepower people around him, but they are not playing 4-quarters of football on any given Sunday.

CHICAGO..Which is the real Caleb Williams?  The guy who throws for (334) one Sunday or the one that went (10-24) throwing this past Sunday?

TAMPA..Baker Mayfield does not have his top two receivers and yet goes off for (330Y-3TD) but a loss to Atlanta.  He competes.  He has reinvented himself.

MIAMI..Tua Tagovailoa is back, but the Dolphins fall to (2-5) with a home loss to fiesty Arizona.  Tua refuses to wear the Guardian Cap helmet in games eventhough it has been proven to show head injuries are reduced by 50% in players wearing them.  Makes no sense.

TITANS..How good is Mike Vrable, the fired head coach in Tennessee.  Life after Vrabel this year in Nashville is (1-6).  That’s how good he is

GIANTS..Miserable season, again for QB-Daniel Jones.  Waiting to see what happens first.  He asks to be traded.  Or they fire the Coach-GM who put this mess of a roster around the highly paid QB.

AZTECS..They are making progress, are entertaining on offense, and has a defense that plays with its hair on fire.  But the penalties just keep mounting and keep impacting their big plays, or giving big extra yardage to the opponent.  They roared back to take the lead over a (5-1) Washington State team, but 2-TD drives in 5-minutes, and roughing the QB and roughing the punter penalties doomed their chances to pull off an upset of the Cougars.  Up next, real people Boise State-UNLV, still on the schedule.  Too bad the community is not responding.  Only 18,000 plus at Snapdragon for the Saturday game that was a shootout.

TOREROS..A (4-3) record does not tell how good a job Brandon Moore has done at USD.  It’s QB throws TD passes, its defense goes and gets turnovers.

==================

 

==========

Hacksaw’s Great Sports Weekend Podcast
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Look-Listen-Share-Subscribe

===========
“WORLD SERIES–FOR THE AGES”
===========

There is so much history to pay attention to, starting Friday night at Dodgers Stadium.

The Yankees and Dodgers meet for the 12th time in the Fall Classic.  So much history, this is the 12th meeting between these two flagship franchises.

The Yankees have won 8-times thru the decades, Brooklyn-LA have won 3-times.

Pick a phrase and it brings you a flashback.

Big Apple-vs-Tinseltown
Bronx Bombers-vs-Dem Bums
Pinstripes-vs-Dodger Blue
Broadway-vs-Hollywood
Subways-vs-Freeways
27 Rings-vs-7 Rings
41 Pennants-vs-25 Pennants
Casey-vs-Smokey

You like history, boy have there been amazing games, performances, incidents.

1941..Brooklyn catcher  Mickey Owens drops a 3rd strike-leading to a Yankees rally-win.
1947..Brooklyn’s Cookie Lavagetto pinch hit double in the 9th-broke up a no hitter
1955..Johnny Padres pitched the Dodgers to a World Series win
1956..Don Larsen’s perfect game against Brooklyn

The Dodgers-Sandy Amoros amazing catch at the left field foul line.
Jackie Robinson’s brazen theft of home in front of Yogi Berra
Sandy Koufax’s 15-strikeout win
Reggie Jackson hit 3-home runs on first pitches in 3-at bats vs LA
Fernando Valenzuaela’s 155-pitch win that gave LA a series win

Tommy LaSorda dancing at home plate after a win
George Steinbrenner punching a fan and breaking his hand after a loss.

So much history between the two, and we have not touched on this Fall Classic.

Judge-vs-Ohtani.
Dave Roberts-vs-Aaron Boone
Dodgers Bullpen days-vs-Gerritt Cole-Carlos Rodon.,

This series goes 7-games.
We see who survives for this will be the best drama-theatre baseball can offer.
Enjoy.

===============

 

=======

Hacksaw’s Thursday Podcast-1pm
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Look-Listen-Share-Subscribe
=======
“FERNANDO-MANIA-NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN”
=======

We remember greatness on the mound.
The legendary bully on the mound Nolan Ryan.
The mad scientist that was Greg Maddux for nearly two decades.
There have been so many brilliant pitchers from all types of backgrounds.
Think Tom Seaver-Steve Carlton-Jack Morris.

And then there was the Dodgers’ lefthander, Fernando Valenzuela, a comet who shot thru the sky over a dominant 8-year span with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who passed away 48-hours ago after a battle with cancer.

His career spanned so many accomplishments, on the mound, in the community.

A workhorse like few have ever seen.  A (173-153) record with a (3.54ERA).  The last of the great warriors,113-complete games in 453-starts.  A composite (2,930-innings) to go with (2,974-strikeouts) and a volume of bases on balls (1,151-walks).

He put together a 6-year run of dominance with the Dodgers after his amazing rookie season.  In that 6-year span, his innings pitched totals were between (251-285) innings per season.

And then there was the rookie season in 1981, the then 20-year old phenom took the ball and won his first 8-starts.  Not just going (8-0) but throwing 8-complete games in a row and tossing 5-shutouts in that span.  To top it off, his rookie ERA in those outings, (0.50)….can you believe that-can you top that?

The story of his discovery is amazing.  Cigar smoking-white jacketed-Panama hat wearing Mike Brito-the Dodgers elite scout, was looking at a shortstop in the back- woods of rural Mexico, when he saw Fernando-at age 17-dominate men in the Mexican Summer League.

He came from a family of 12-kids in a farming community, and never lost his humble beginnings despite his celebrity status and his money.

A year later after Brito first saw him, he was signed, and rocketed thru the farm system, as a two pitch-pitcher, fastball, curveball, and a desire to finish what he started.

Brito knew he needed another pitch, and sent him to journeyman pitcher Bobby Castillo, who taught him the ‘screwball’.  And the physical tools Valenzuela took to the mound were a perfect pitch no one had seen in years, and no one knew how to hit.

That was on the field.

Off the field, here came ‘Fernandomania’ and it ignited a global following that exists to this day.  The Dodgers became not only LA’s team, but became the team of the Latino Community, from San Francisco-thru LA-into Orange County and in San Diego.

The interest in Mexico came immediately where that country’s fans re-embraced baseball like never seen before.  Valenzuela starts became ‘Must-See TV’ from Tijuana to the Yucatan Peninsula, at resorts, to dirt floor bars in every backcountry community.

Dodgers flags and Mexican flags went hand in hand.

There had been a select few Mexican players who starred in MLB.  The 1950’s Cleveland Indians 2nd baseman Bobby Avila was as well known as anyone.

The windmill windup, as wild a delivery as Juan Marichal had, became his signature delivery.  What the kid lefthander did against men at bat-was stunning.

Valenzuela-screwball and all-became the Mexican Sandy Koufax.

Wearing a sombrero to Dodgers Stadium on the nights he pitched became the thing to do.  Listening to Vin Scully describe all things Fernando-was such joy.

The workload and wear and tear shortened his career, and like a comet in the sky he flamed out.  But before he left, he authored a no hitter in his final season in LA.

In the Dodgers Hall of Fame, his uniform #34 retired, the stories about Valenzuela are everywhere a this hour.

And as the Dodgers open the World Series on Friday against the Yankees, we cannot forget how Fernando, in 1981, his first full year in the majors, as a 20-year old, beat the Yankees in his first Fall Classic start, using a 150-pitch effort in the win, that led LA to wipe out a (2-0) deficit and the road to victory.  By the way, it’s the last time the Dodgers beat the Bronx Bombers in the Series.  Now they renew the rivalry at Dodgers Stadium.

The Dodgers should wear a ‘black armband’ to signify Fernando’s fire-desire-dedication to Dodgers Blue.  Paint #34 behind home plate.  Look forward to the video they will play remembering his delivery, his smile, his portly stance on the mound, and his screwball.

Friday, as the Dodgers play,  is also the ‘Day of the Dead’ in Mexico, and he will be honored-remembered as all loved ones who have passed in that country.

Fernandomania.  We saw it.  Baseball should never forget it.  The Dodgers should dedicate this series to all he was, all he represented, as a player-a broadcaster, and a man who relinked the Latin-Hispanic baseball fan to the Grand-Old American Pastime.

Gone-but never to be forgotten.  El Toro they called him.  So special to baseball.

=============